


You Will Be Okay, Lady

by ShesAKillerQueen98



Category: Princess Bride (1987), The Princess Bride - William Goldman
Genre: Buttercup has PTSD, Crying, Cuddling & Snuggling, Emotional Baggage, Emotional Hurt, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/M, Fear, Fezzik gives the best hugs, Fezzik is a good friend, Fezzik is a sweetheart, Flashbacks, Friendship, Hallucinations, Hurt/Comfort, Platonic Cuddling, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Westley has PTSD, Westley loves Buttercup
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-15
Updated: 2020-07-15
Packaged: 2021-03-04 19:27:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,568
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25291654
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ShesAKillerQueen98/pseuds/ShesAKillerQueen98
Summary: Four years after Buttercup, Westley, Fezzik, and Inigo escape from Florin, the memories of her traumatic experiences are still haunting the former princess. She feels she has to keep it all locked up inside for fear of her friends thinking less of her or turning their backs on her. Luckily for her, Fezzik is a marvelous listener.
Relationships: Buttercup/Westley (Princess Bride)
Comments: 6
Kudos: 25





	You Will Be Okay, Lady

**Author's Note:**

> CW: PTSD and flashbacks

Florin was miles behind them, Humperdinck was nowhere to be found, Inigo and Fezzik had been living in the cottage next door, Westley had retired from being the Dread Pirate Roberts and life was finally peaceful.

So why did Buttercup still suffer so much?

She had no reason to. All the nightmares were over. She was living with the love of her life and her two closest friends, she and her husband owned a fair amount of land and were living in wealth. She lacked for nothing, both physically and emotionally. But that didn’t stop the memories from haunting her. Every so often, she would be sitting on a stool sewing or reading or even just looking out the window and she would suddenly be joined by a rodent of unusual size with her darling screaming in pain, or she would be sinking through a pit of sand, unable to breathe or see or scream, or she would hear _his_ voice in her ear, feel his hand firmly clasping her arm.

_“I would not say such things if I were you!”_

She had been lucky enough to only have these episodes when she was alone. Whenever Westley was around, she was more able to focus on him and his company. It was even better when Fezzik and Inigo would join them. She could laugh and talk and just let go. Funny, she never would have thought she would have considered men who had tried to kidnap her to be her closest friends.

_“Those are the shrieking eels.”_

No, no not now.

_“If you don’t believe me, just wait.”_

Please not now!

“Lady? Are you here?”

_“They always grow louder when they are about to feed on human flesh!”_

The shriek began in her mind, a memory of a large mouth and sharp teeth, horrid foul smelling breath inches away from her face and the chilling thought that she was about to become a meal. The shriek began in her mind but it ended in her throat, all around the room as she collapsed into a corner in a fit of sobs.

“Lady!”

As the memory faded, she heard the sound of massive footsteps coming towards her room. Fezzik. She needed to sort herself out before he saw her like this, but her legs refused to stand. All they would do was shake.

“I…I’m in here, Fezzik.” She called weakly. The door to her room opened and the giant ducked under the doorway before entering.

“You are on the floor.” He observed. Buttercup didn’t answer. “You are crying.” Buttercup still didn’t answer, her arms had curled in on themselves as she hunched in the corner.

“I-I’m okay, Fezzik.” She said weakly

The giant stepped a little closer, crossing his arms. “I may not be smart, but I can see that you are not okay.”

Buttercup wiped her eyes. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to infer that you aren’t smart. I just…” the memory washed over her and another broken sob escaped from her throat. Fezzik took a few more steps closer, sitting on the ground next to her. “W-where’s Westley? And Inigo? I thought you all were working on repairing the stable.”

“We finished early.” Fezzik explained. “They decided to go hunting.”

“You didn’t join them?”

“I do not like killing animals.” 

That made sense. Despite his enormous stature and his past as a wrestler, Fezzik was the most gentle creature Buttercup had ever met.

“Ah…I see.” She said pathetically. Her mind was spent. She couldn’t possibly manage to keep up a conversation with anyone at the moment.

“So why did you scream?” Fezzik asked. “And why are you crying?”

“It’s…it’s nothing. Nothing you should be worrying about at least.” Another few tears fell down her cheeks.

“Lady, please tell me the truth.” Fezzik pleaded.

Buttercup swallowed back another sob. It was too embarrassing to talk about. She didn’t need to give anyone anymore reason to think less of her, especially not one of her closest friends. And if she told him, he might tell Westley. What would Westley think? She shivered at the thought.

The room was cold, the stone walls closing in on her. When suddenly, they were out of her sight, she was warm. Gray cloth floated all around her vision, the fabric of Fezzik’s shirt, and his arms encircled her, pulling her into a warm embrace. She could’t hold it in anymore. She began to sob harder than she had before. She thought she was strong enough to hold it off, but it came anyway, another testament to her weakness.

“They won’t go away.” She sobbed. “It’s been four years since I last saw Humperdinck, since Vizzini kidnapped me, since I even stepped foot in the fire swamp. That part of my life is behind me. But it’s still here! It still haunts me and it won’t give me a moment’s peace when I’m alone!” More tears came spilling down her face as Fezzik gently patted her back with an enormous hand. 

“And you keep it to yourself?” Fezzik said. Buttercup nodded weakly. “Is not good.” Buttercup answered him with another sob as he continued to rub her back “You should tell Westley.”

“No!” Buttercup protested. “This is all so embarrassing enough, I wouldn’t want him, well, any of you really, to think any less of me.” 

Humperdinck’s words once again echoed in her mind. _“You’re a silly girl.”_

“You are Westley’s true love.” Fezzik said. “He thinks the world of you. He won’t think any bad thing about you.” Buttercup trembled against Fezzik’s chest and the giant tightened his embrace. “We won’t think anything bad about you. You are nice and you are a good person. And you aren’t the only one. I get scared too, sometimes.” Buttercup looked up at him, her heart aching for her friend. She had almost forgotten. Fezzik had lived his whole live as someone else’s circus animal, fighting for other people’s entertainment, not having a true friend until he found Inigo. But he was still so sweet and kind. It almost made her cry harder, but she held it back, simply giving Fezzik a pat on the hand. “Westley’s probably just as scared as you are.”

Buttercup almost laughed. Westley always seemed so fearless. After all, he took down Inigo, Vizzini, _and_ Fezzik and came out with hardly a scratch on him, he’d gotten them both through the fire swamp, he had been mostly killed by Humperdinck, and still got them all to safety…now that she thought about it, it wouldn’t surprise her if he _did_ suffer the way she did. It made her ache even more, both at the thought of her friends suffering and her own memories and…oh heavens she just couldn’t take it anymore.

She nestled into Fezzik, nodding her agreement. Fezzik stood up, Buttercup curled up in one arm, and walked over to a large brass cage where two doves sat cooing at each other. Under the cage was a table with a few scrolls of parchment and a quill and inkwell. He scribbled a quick note in his messy handwriting.

_Lady is sad and scared. Bad dreams and bad thoughts. Needs Westley._  
_~F_

He opened the cage and stuck his hand in, letting one of the doves hop into his enormous palm, letting it take the parchment in its beak.

“Go find Westley.” He said quietly as he walked the bird to the window and let it fly into the sky towards the forest. Once it was out of sight, Fezzik walked over to a large sofa near the back of the room, sitting them both down on it, his arms still around Buttercup. After about thirty minutes, the dove returned with Fezzik’s original message, only this time, there was a thumbprint lined in dirt underneath, Westley’s way of answering that he’d gotten the message when he didn’t have a quill or ink. The giant gave Buttercup’s back another gentle pat. “Westley is coming back and you will talk to him. You will be okay, Lady.” He said with a wide smile.

Despite the tears that were still coming, Buttercup gave him a smile back. It was weak and tired, but it still sent the message she needed to send, and her friend understood it loud and clear. 

In less than an hour, Westley’s voice was heard shouting down the hall.

“Buttercup? Fezzik? Where are you?!” 

“We are in here!” Fezzik called in response.

Westley burst into the room, sitting next to Fezzik while the giant gingerly placed Buttercup into her husband’s arms. 

"Darling, everything has just gotten too much. Everything that happened, the kidnapping, the fire swamp, you getting attacked and almost killed, and everything Humperdinck did to both of us. I can't get it out of my mind! I just want it to stop!" She continued to sob and let everything on her mind, all the haunting memories pour out of her as he soothed her with gentle kisses to her forehead and soft strokes along her blonde locks.

“It’s alright, beloved. I’m here.” Over her husband’s shoulder, she could see Fezzik standing against the wall, watching with a smile as Westley comforted her. Buttercup smiled at the giant as she nestled into Westley’s arms.

None of them were even close to putting the entire thing behind them, but at least they were still walking forward.

**Author's Note:**

> My family and I watched _The Princess Bride_ for like the millionth time the other night and I watched an interview with Robin Wright that Andre the Giant gave very good hugs and that when they were filming out in the cold, he would put his hand on the top of her head to keep her warm so this little idea just kind of came to me. I hope you liked it, if you did kudos and comments are much appreciated. Thank you so much for reading and have a lovely day!


End file.
